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Minimum wage

glyn
Where minimum wage is going up in 2016

December 23

The once-unthinkable $15 minimum wage became a burgeoning reality in 2015.

Following the examples set by San Francisco and Seattle, 14 cities, counties and state governments approved a hike to $15 in their local minimum hourly pay, according to the National Employment Law Project.

And that momentum is likely to continue in the new year.

Lawmakers in 13 states and cities -- including California, New York and Washington, D.C. -- have proposed legislation and ballot measures calling for a $15 minimum that will get consideration in 2016.

In most places, the increase to $15 is being phased in over a few years to give businesses a little time to adjust.

That's because a $15 minimum often reflects a 50%-plus hike from the local minimum in place today. And it represents a 107% increase over the $7.25 federal minimum wage.

New York made headlines this year when Gov. Andrew Cuomo bypassed the state legislature to put in place a $15 minimum for fast-food workers at large chains. He also mandated it for state workers.

Now Cuomo is suggesting that all businesses in New York pay a $15 minimum, a proposal that lawmakers in Albany are expected to take up early in the new year.

Beyond the "Fight for $15," however, at least 13 states will see their minimum wages go up next year as a result of prior legislation.

Here's a list of many places where low-income workers will see more in their paychecks at some point in 2016.

STATES

Alaska: $9.75, up $1

Arkansas: $8, up $0.50

California: $10, up $1

Connecticut: $9.60, $0.45

Hawaii: $8.50, up $0.75

Maryland: $8.75, up $0.75

Massachusetts: $10, up $1

Michigan: $8.50, $0.35

Nebraska: $9, up $1

New York: $9, up $0.25

Rhode Island: $9.60, up $0.60

Vermont: $9.60, up $0.45

West Virginia: $8.75, up $0.75

*10 states -- Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, Ohio, Oregon, South Dakota and Washington -- will see small cost-of-living increases in their minimum wages.

CITIES, COUNTIES

Buffalo, NY (city workers): $9.75, up $1

Chicago, IL: $10.50, up $0.50
Mountain View, Calif.: $11, up $0.70

Missoula, Mont. (city workers): $12, up $2.95

New York, NY (fast-food workers, state workers): $10.50, up $1.75; (elsewhere in NY state $9.75, up $1)

Los Angeles County, Calif.: $10.50, up $1.50

Montgomery and Prince George's Counties, Md.: $10.75, up $1.20

Portland, Me.: $10.10, up $2.60

San Francisco: $13, up $0.75

Seattle: $13 (for large businesses), up $2
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Comments

17 comments

Date Votes
  • glyn
    cCZCJOVl.jpg
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  • glyn
    I was talking to someone couple of days ago and they told me the minimum wage in Kansas is $2.85 ph,is that rue.How do you live on that even if you are single.
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  • Cubslover
    quote:Originally posted by glyn
    I was talking to someone couple of days ago and they told me the minimum wage in Kansas is $2.85 ph,is that rue.How do you live on that even if you are single.


    Impossible. I believe Min. Wage is a federally mandated rate.
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  • gruntled
    http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm

    It appears to be true. Note that Oklahoma is $2.00/hr.
    There must be other factors involved such as maybe only applying to people who are customarily tipped.
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  • Cubslover
    quote:Originally posted by gruntled
    http://www.dol.gov/esa/minwage/america.htm

    It appears to be true. Note that Oklahoma is $2.00/hr.
    There must be other factors involved such as maybe only applying to people who are customarily tipped.



    Yes, that is true. Servers, Delivery people, etc. Can be paid at a lower rate. As long as the Tips are accounted for and taxes are paid on them.
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  • Warpig883
    The federal minimum wage over rides these.


    States can add to a law and make it stricter but they cannot take away from a law. Some states have elected to raise the minimum wage businesses must pay workers, this is making the law stricter.
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  • leftytwoguns
    A friend of mine from Texas tells me that as a waitress/waiter the wage is around $2.00 down there. From what I was told the actual paycheck comes out to $0.00 and the tips are your paycheck. The wage is to pay your taxes and such.
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  • Warpig883
    quote:Originally posted by leftytwoguns
    A friend of mine from Texas tells me that as a waitress/waiter the wage is around $2.00 down there. From what I was told the actual paycheck comes out to $0.00 and the tips are your paycheck. The wage is to pay your taxes and such.


    That is correct. Some jobs are exempt from government wage controls. Wait staff which gets regular tips is exempt.
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  • spurgemastur
    Federal minimum is on the order of $5.25, with substandard rates for people who are tipped.

    I guess in some parts of the country I could live on $5.25/hour, but I sure wouldn't want to.

    Some tipped employees who gather the substandard fed minimum do substantially better (i.e. those who work in nice restaurants--not TOP END, but nice restaurants, like those in which you might pay $17 for a mid-level entree).
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  • minitruck83
    quote:Originally posted by spurgemastur
    Federal minimum is on the order of $5.25, with substandard rates for people who are tipped.

    I guess in some parts of the country I could live on $5.25/hour, but I sure wouldn't want to.

    Some tipped employees who gather the substandard fed minimum do substantially better (i.e. those who work in nice restaurants--not TOP END, but nice restaurants, like those in which you might pay $17 for a mid-level entree).




    And some do substantially worse. Some restaurants practice that is called "splitting tips" in where the waitstaff shares their tips with hostesses,casiers,and kitchen staff such as cooks and bus boys that are minimum wage positions at the least. Restaurants will also "allocate" a waitress as having made at least minimum wage on a 1099 form and if they arent smart enough to keep a daily record of tips to contest it they will be taxed at this level. (contesting this can also cause a waitress to be "blackballed" by the other locals.)


    Allen
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  • spurgemastur
    quote:Originally posted by minitruck83
    quote:Originally posted by spurgemastur
    Federal minimum is on the order of $5.25, with substandard rates for people who are tipped.

    I guess in some parts of the country I could live on $5.25/hour, but I sure wouldn't want to.

    Some tipped employees who gather the substandard fed minimum do substantially better (i.e. those who work in nice restaurants--not TOP END, but nice restaurants, like those in which you might pay $17 for a mid-level entree).




    And some do substantially worse. Some restaurants practice that is called "splitting tips" in where the waitstaff shares their tips with hostesses,casiers,and kitchen staff such as cooks and bus boys that are minimum wage positions at the least. Restaurants will also "allocate" a waitress as having made at least minimum wage on a 1099 form and if they arent smart enough to keep a daily record of tips to contest it they will be taxed at this level. (contesting this can also cause a waitress to be "blackballed" by the other locals.)


    Allen


    I absolutely believe you.

    Years ago, I worked as a cook in one of the "nice restaurants" I mentioned above. We had tip sharing between kitchen and wait-staff, and it worked really well. The waiters tipped out based on sales (plus extra if they felt like it) rather than actual tips. Cooks loved the waiters, we did what we could to make their life easy...waiters tipped us well...it was a win-win situation. They were taxed and tipped us out based on sales, but for the most part, they did better on tips than they had to declare so they were OK with that.

    But I'm sure that I landed the nice job, and that there are many other tip-sharing restaurant situations that aren't quite that nice.
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  • idsman75
    When I lived in Iowa (before the Army) I did a job that few other people wanted to do for $8.75 an hour. It was a small operation and I was paid well above the minimum wage for the time. If the Democrats had free range they would have put that operation out of business by raising the minimum wage. Nobody would have done what I did at the rate the company could afford to pay its employees and still keep its doors open.
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  • Permanently deleted user
    In certain jobs where tips or gratuities are envolved minimum wage may be less than Federaly mandated. If a waitress for example makes enough in tips to cover the minimum wage the employer can pay a lower wage.. I know of people that actually paid to go to work due to the amount of gratuity the received..[:0]
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  • slipgate
    I'm not 100% but I think you only have to pay minumum wage if what you work at crosses state lines (in any way shape or form) - so a local shop doesn't necessarily have to pay minimum wage.

    BTW: Min wage jobs are not really career positions, they are something to do until you are capable of doing something better. McDonalds is for high school students and retirees that want to get out of the house, not a lifetime job. I am very against raising min wage as it promotes mediocracy. In fact, I'd lower it.
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  • Colt Super
    +

    "Minimum wage" laws are a curse on our Republic, and are the primary contributors to inflation.

    They were foisted off on America by the dimocrats.

    Doug
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  • iwannausername
    As long as we are stuck with a federal minimum wage (as opposed to state level "living wage") then the congress critter pay should be tied to it - say, 12.5x minimum wage.
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  • cce1302
    +2 Doug and Slipgate. Minimum is the description for a reason. It's not a career. It's a starting point. Nobody with a high school diploma should be working for minimum wage.
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